


Foxglove

by amaryllis_radiata



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Flowers, M/M, One Shot Collection, SasoDei Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26971591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaryllis_radiata/pseuds/amaryllis_radiata
Summary: “You have to admit,” Deidara grumbled, “That theirs had no artistic vision, no... color!”Day One of SasoDei Week 2020: Flowers
Relationships: Deidara & Sasori (Naruto), Deidara/Sasori (Naruto)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 32





	Foxglove

“What do you think caused the fire, hm?”

The forest before them loomed blackened beyond the river, with the thorny remains of trees stretching skeletal branches towards the sky. It stretched on for miles out of sight, its progress west seemingly only stopped by its meeting with the water. Deidara had plenty of experience with fire, but a forest fire was a little different than the ignition of chakra in his bombs. He turned his gaze to his partner.

Sasori stared silently across the river towards what remained. From within Hiruko it often seemed as though he was ignoring Deidara, but they had worked together long enough that he knew the puppet master had heard him. 

“A storm?”

“We aren’t far from the border with Fire Country,” Sasori said, voice raspy through Hiruko. “A storm is possible, but a fire jutsu gone out of control is also likely. Impossible to say with a fire weeks or months old.”

Deidara frowned. “Weeks...?”

“Look at the underbrush.”

Deidara followed his partner’s gaze back towards the ruined forest, lifting his hand to activate his scope. Now that he was looking for them, he could see the weeds and grasses creeping up though the burned remains. How Sasori has managed to spot them he wasn’t sure, but he’d stopped being surprised by Sasori’s knowledge and skills a long time ago. 

Deidara let out an annoyed huff. 

“Why were we sent all of the way out here for something that probably burned up weeks ago? Hmm.”

“Outdated information. But...” Sasori trailed off, prompting Deidara to return his attention to his partner. It felt as though he were smiling from within Hiruko. “Perhaps not a complete waste of time.”

Deidara frowned. “Do you think the scroll survived?”

“Very small chance of that unless they moved it prior to the fire.” 

“Then...?”

Sasori started making his way down to the riverbank without a response, prompting Deidara to trail after him. Deidara pulled out one of his birds, activating the clay artwork with a handsign. 

The bird was large enough for the both of them to ride, though perhaps not Sasori’s preferred method of transportation while encased inside of his puppet. Deidara didn’t really care, though, because the current on this river was less than tranquil and he didn’t feel like getting drenched crossing on foot. 

“Care to explain, Sasori-no-Danna?”

“Just keep your eye out for where the scroll may have been hidden. I’ll tell you to stop if I need you to.”

Deidara rolled his eyes but commanded the bird to fly, keeping as low as possible to look for disturbances in the burnt underbrush and new growth as he followed the riverbank north. 

Nothing caught his eye for long minutes, with patches of vegetation creeping back thicker in places than others and obscuring the ground. He made a small noise of annoyance after ten minutes had passed with nothing interesting catching his eye or a word from his partner.

“This is a waste of time.”

“Land us, then.”

It was odd that Sasori, whose patience was notoriously short, was being so persistent. Deidara landed the bird with only a small amount of complaint, dodging the swipe of Hiruko’s tail in a practiced motion as he landed on the new growth of the forest floor. Sasori landed smoothly beside him, something that felt should have been impossible to achieve in a bulky puppet, but his partner was a master of his craft. 

The smell of the decomposing trees and ash mixed with the muddy smell of past rains and the river that stretched somewhere to their left. Deidara found himself trailing beside Sasori once again, scanning their surroundings for any sign of anything. Had he not been begrudgingly looking for something that looked like it might have once housed a scroll he might not have noticed the glint of sunlight reflected close to the ground. 

He raised a hand as he paused, looking over the many wires stretching out before them. Hiruko’s sliding steps beside him came to a halt as well, and after a moment the hinge on the puppet’s back creaked open. Sasori’s true form emerged from the puppet with a sigh, exchanging a brief look with Deidara before sealing Hiruko within a scroll and tucking it away within his robes. 

“Still think those chances are low, Danna?”

“Do you always ask obvious questions, brat?”

A grin came unbidden to Deidara’s lips. Sasori’s red hair gleamed like fire in the sunlight, and he found himself taking in the perfect slope of his neck and jawline that remained visible above the collar of the cloak. Deidara saw more of Sasori’s true form than anyone else in the world due to their partnership, but he was positive he would never tire of the sight. Sasori was a master of his craft, all right. 

“Don’t think you can maneuver Hiruko through these traps, hmm?”

Sasori clicked his tongue, answering without words before moving ahead past the wires. Deidara followed a step behind, eyes peeled for further wire or paper traps. The burnt trees were getting denser and it was getting more difficult to see. A bird called off to his right, which was really the only warning Deidara had before the log Sasori had just passed and that he was about to land on exploded. 

“Shit!”

If nothing else, Deidara was familiar with how to evade the worst of an explosion. He twisted away in the air, letting the heat and force propel him to a patch of dry earth while shielding his face with his sleeve and hat. He landed on his feet and scanned the area around him, heart dropping when he realized his partner was nowhere in sight. His hand felt a little singed, but he’d had worse from his own explosions. This pain is was nothing. 

When he heard the bird call the next time, Deidara was ready. The four grasshoppers his left hand had been chewing from clay were tossed into the air, activating into their larger forms as he zeroed in on the ambush team.Both nin were still to the right - not a high enough level to engage with him directly, but smart enough it seemed to lay better traps than he’d expected.It was obvious this time what direction the bomb traps would be activated, and Deidara easily dodged the other way. There was a scream further back in the woods, then a series of quick explosions as his grasshoppers found their marks. Deidara allowed himself to stand a little straighter and listen. 

There was... nothing. The wind blew gently through the now smoldering clearing, and the river continued to rush in the distance over the ringing in his ears from the close-proximity blasts. Deidara moved forward, taking in the remains of what had been two ninja, though no markings remained to associate them with a specific village. There was no sign of the scroll they’d been sent to retrieve, either. 

He turned back towards where the trap had been sprung, annoyed but unsurprised to find no sign of his partner. It was simple enough to follow the path he’d likely traveled away from the quick battle, but a full ten minutes later had Deidara irritatedly landing beside the body of a third attacker that appeared to have been paralyzed by the poison senbon needle sticking out of his throat. He turned to glare at Sasori who was examining some purple bell-shaped flowers and ignoring him entirely. 

“What the hell was that, Danna? Just leaving me with all of the of the work?”

“All? Which one of us do you think got the scroll?” Sasori didn’t look at him as he spoke, instead withdrawing a kunai. Deidara tensed, but relaxed when it was used to cut a stalk of purple flowers. He watched as his partner cut enough to make a large bouquet, emotions warring between irritation and curiosity. 

“So you got lucky and took out the last attacker who had the scroll on him?”

“No, I followed the shinobi who was fleeing with the scroll and left you to deal with the interference. Stop moping because they dared use explosives to attack you.”

“You have to admit,” Deidara grumbled, “That theirs had no artistic vision, no... color! Just trash, hmm.” He tilted his head as Sasori turned towards him with an armful of purple flowers. “If you wanted me to get you flowers, Danna, all you had to do was ask.”

Rather than telling him to shut up or tossing a senbon towards his eyes like he expected, Sasori instead moved forward until only half-a-step’s distance remained between them. He picked up one stalk of the flowers, lightly tracing it along Deidara’s cheek while the other man did his best not to shiver. 

“ _Digitalis_.  Foxglove, as it’s commonly called. An overdose of  _digitalis_ causes nausea, cardiac arrhythmias, weakness, seizures, and even death. And it sometimes grows,” the petals traced lightly over Deidara’s lips, “in ground recently disturbed by a forest fire. If you want to bring me flowers, Deidara, at least make sure they’re useful ones.” 

The flowers were withdrawn from Deidara’s face, and he found himself leaning forward a little in their absence. He huffed out a laugh, trying to ignore the sudden feeling of longing that crept up his stomach into his throat as Sasori turned away to summon Hiruko back from his scroll. 

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time, hmm.”

**Author's Note:**

> Am I writing SasoDei content in 2020? Yep. Am I a week late to these prompts with Starbucks and a whole lotta cynicism? Yep. Dedicated to my wife whose birthday was also last week.


End file.
